Tomoroki
by OneWhoCharms
Summary: A series of drabbles about the relationship between the hot and cold hero in training and the magical girl who fights with ribbons and muskets. Re-uploaded
1. Rainy Day

**Hello readers! Thank you all for coming back to the newly uploaded Tomoroki.**

 **As usual I would like to thank all those who followed and favourited my story previously, I hope to see you here again.**

 **As you might imagine I don't own My hero academia or Madoka Magica**

* * *

Mami hummed discontentedly as she looked out the window to see that the weather had only gotten worse, the White clouds that had dotted the sky earlier had morphed into monsterous grey ones that consumed the atmosphere, rain was coming down in sheets and it showed no signs of lightening up. The blonde pulled the curtains back across the window with a sigh and turned back to her boyfriend who, as he usually did when he came over to her apartment, was sitting quietly on the couch. As was custome on the weekends, Mami had invited her friends and classmates over to her home for tea and cake, this week the place had been fairly packed to Mami's delight, Sayaka, Kyoko and Madoka had all come over as well as Iida, Ururaka, Midoriya and Yoyaroza had come over with Todoroki.

As per usual Madoka and Deku had gotten along swimmingly while Ururaka had sat next to them with a cheery expression, Sayaka had been happy to chat with Yoyaroza who Sayaka claimed reminded her of Hitome, Kyoko had been happy to occupy herself with the cake and tea while occasionally throwing quips at Iida when he would repremand her table manners, and as fond as she knew Midoriya was of him, Mami couldn't help but be glad that Bakugou wasn't here, considering what happened the last time he and Kyoko were left in a room together. Everyone else had left when the skies started to darken but Todoroki had stayed behind so that they could spend some time just the two of them.

Although his back was to her she could see by the movement of his upper arms that he was fiddling with something in his hands, and as she moved closer she saw that he was holding Bebe. Heat bloomed on her cheeks, where did he get that?

The magenta coloured rag doll had been a gift from her parents when she was small, of all the things she'd had to sell along with the house or give away due to the space of her new living quarters she had clung to that doll ferociously, sometimes when it all got a bit much she would curl up on the couch and bury her face in the dusty fabric, but she wasn't exactly ready to have her friends know that which is why she hid it in the bedroom when they came over, so once again she asked how did he get that?!

Wait. That's right. She'd been brewing the tea in the kitchen when the doorbell rang, she hadn't cleaned the living room first so she stuffed behind a sofa cushion in a rush.

Todoroki must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his head around to look at her, they locked eyes but not before he saw that she was looking at the toy in his hands, adding that to the look on her face he mentally sumerised enough of the situation to guess the best course of action. Carefully he set Bebe on a pillow the other end of the couch, Mami smiled at his gracious silence and came around the to sit next to him. Todoroki had been sitting with his right side leaning on the armrest, he was about to shift over so that Mami could sit there, unconsciously trying to keep her from touching his left, Mami noticed this and quickly slid into place beside to him before he could move, initially Todoroki went stiff at closeness but Mami just pulled the blanket that had been draped across the couch back around the two of them.

"I know you prefer your right side in a battle, but it's just the two of us now," she smirked a little "and I'm hardly going to attack you."

Todoroki's unconscious reasoning quickly sprung to the front of his mind, but he was having trouble figuring out what to do next, he didn't want to shrug Mami off, but he also couldn't think of a way to explain his discomfort to her without going into his whole backstory with his parents, and that... wasn't something he wanted to get into right now.

"Besides," Mami continued as she leaned a little closer "I kind of like your left side, it has a pleasant heat."

Todoroki looked down at the blonde in shock but she had angled her face away so that he wouldn't see her biting her lip at the words she'd just let past them. Todoroki was surprised to say the least, of course Mami didn't have the memories or contempt that he associated with the power that resided in the left side of his body but his own feelings were deep rooted enough that even though she was complimenting him, it made him a little defensive. But after a moment of continued quiet he realised... it was a compliment about him, in Mami's mind his left side had no connection to his father, no attachment to anyone but him, it was just a part of _him._

 _"_... Thank you." He responded quietly, but Mami still smiled back at him, "I... appreciate it."

Like Todoroki had done before Mami looked at all the pieces in front of her and guessed enough of the situation to know that words weren't necessary, so she just rest her head on his shoulder, finally relaxing into the touch of his girlfriend Todoroki looped his left arm around her shoulders, and the two of them sat together listening to the sound of rain against the window.


	2. Interview

It was a truth universally acknowledged that when you got into a serious relationship with someone, you were also getting into a serious relationship with their friends.

Despite the universal acknowledgement of this truth, Todoroki Shoto did not become aware of it himself until one early afternoon where he found himself being ambushed by a pair of magical girls.

But first, let us provide some context.

 **XXX**

 _10 hours earlier._

Todoroki was in his bedroom and leaning back in his desk chair, it was already dark outside and the only source of light in the room came from the desk lamp which focused on the various books, pens, and papers that had wound up scattered across the work surface. It was getting closer to exam season so all of his classes were churning out tests and essay homework's in preparation.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, if he just kept working he could finish of this chapter and then move onto the next worksheet... but the thought of keeping his eyes open much longer made his body feel lead like, the need for sleep had been whining at him for about an hour and a half know and it seemed his nervous system was intent on punishing for ignoring it.

Just as he was about to straighten himself back up in his chair his phone buzzed from its place on his bedside table, he went over to pick it up and saw the smiling picture of Mami's caller id photo brighten the screen. He smiled to himself and opened up the text she had sent, it was a bit different from her usual messages but Todoroki was too tired to notice, the text told Tododroki that they should meet up tomorrow to hang out.

Todoroki frowned a little, hadn't he told Mami he would be busy this weekend? Hadn't she said she understood because she had a lot of school work to catch up on as well?

 _Did your schedule open up?,_ He texted back.

The phone stayed quiet for a while and Todoroki sat down on the edge of his bed waiting for a response. Eventually the little text filled bubble appeared on screen with a very curt response.

 _Yeah sure. Meet me plus ultra arcade. 1 o'clock._

He was fairly sure Mami had never used symbols to replace words, even in texts, a lingering effect of a particularly terrifying teacher she'd had back in grade school. He was about to question her on it when a yawn fell out of his mouth, he rubbed his eyes and tried to focus his mind but suddenly all the thoughts about Mami conjured an image of her in his head, and he couldn't help but smile at the pouty expression she would surely get on her face as she asked him how he expected to do well in any of this work that he was torturing himself over if he couldn't even kept his eyes open.

Todoroki let out a chuckle under his breath, that was it, she was in his head now so there was no way to say no. He shot back a text saying he'd be there and wishing her a good night before he properly leaned back onto his bed and closed his eyes.

The next day after a quick lunch with his sister he grabbed a bus headed into town and made his way to the arcade. Now that he'd had a good nights sleep his brain was starting to poke holes in the situation, Todoroki had seen the arcade he was heading to before, it was loud and flashy and the kind of place he would imagine Bakugou hanging out, that had never really been Mami's type of place.

He arrived at the arcade to see that it was almost completely packed, he leaned his head close to the window and peered inside, various people around his age were loitering around in groups or hunched over machines, after a few minutes of waiting outside he eventually went inside to see if Mami was waiting for him indoors. It was even louder on the other side of the doors.

He tried his best to move through the space without bumping into anyone, which was easier said than done since the arcades patrons seemed to be under the impression that this was a mosh pit. He finally managed to get to the back wall where music was blaring from the dance floor game. Still no Mami. The longer he went without seeing her the more he was beginning to think there must have been mistake, he could understand if she was just running late, things like that couldn't be helped, but what was really bothering him was the arcade, usually when Mami picked places for them to meet up or spend the weekend together she choose tea houses, walks in the park or tea and cake at her apartment. Did she even know this place existed? No wait- she did, she had mentioned coming here before because a favourite of-

"Well would you look who's here?"

He turned to see the voice coming from his right, the girl was wearing a tye-dye shirt and a blue skirt which was the same colour as her hair, he'd seen her in pictures around Mami's house, Sayaka Miki. She looked him over with a smirk and a critical eye before leaning to look behind him with an annoyed expression,

"Hey Kyoko! Did you hear me?"

Todoroki turned to see that Sayaka was looking towards the dance platform, or more accurately, the girl jumping and spinning on the platform, her red hair was swishing through the air like a foxes tail, finally she spun to face them, she leaned against the railings with a cheeky expression as she surveyed Todoroki as well. Kyoko Sakura.

"Oh, so you did get our texts." she said around the mikado between her teeth.

" _Your_ texts?"

He then felt an arm thrown over his shoulder, Sayaka had to stand on her toes to do it but she grinned at him none the less, "Why don't grab a seat and have a little chat?" she asked in a tone that sounded more like an instruction.

 **XXX**

 _Presently_

And that was how Todoroki found himself sitting at a table in the arcade snack bar across from two of Mami's best friends, who were looking at him like he was a suspect they were interrogating. Well at least half of that was true.

"So you stole Mami's phone." He repeated what they had told him,

"Yep" Kyoko confirmed,

"And sent me a message telling me to come here behind here back,"

"That we did." Said Sayaka,

"All so that you could... ambush me?"

"pfft, lighten up would ya." Kyoko muttered, now nibbling away at a cookie.

"We just thought it might be a good idea for us to get to know you a little bette," Sayaka cut in, "since the two of you seem to be getting so... _close._ "

"She told you we were dating?" Todoroki asked bluntly.

"Why? Haven't you told your friends?" Kyoko snapped back with a bite in her voice, had he done something to her?

As a matter of fact he hadn't told his friends, not that he was hiding his relationship from them, it just hadn't come up, the work that was required from the hero was near all consuming and free time conversation rarely made it to life outside the classroom. Before he could explain any of that however Sayaka bounced back in.

"Mami hasn't right out said that you two were an item," Sayaka rolled her eyes, "doesn't think it's appropriate to discuss with her underclassmen. But she does talk about the time you spend together a lot, and we have noticed your novel length text chains."

Kyoko groaned "She's got this whole thing about the right kind of etiquette between master and disciples, you try getting her to talk about anything remotely personal and she either changes the subject or goes into full mother hen mode."

"Yeah, my big sisters like that too." He added.

This made both girls suddenly start, a light blush began to decorate their cheeks, but as Sayaka began to laugh at Todoroki's attempt to contribute to the discussion, Kyoko pursed her lips, hunched her shoulders and turned a furious shade of red.

"Look if this is about you thinking I'm not good enough for Mami-" He began,

"It's not about that, we don't even think that." Sayaka insisted, though Kyoko began chewing on her snack with a new intensity that suggested that in her mind the subject was still debatable.

"It's just that Mami is important to us, when we started out the whole costumed crime fighter thing she took three newbies under her wing and taught us how to work together." Sayaka explained,

"And when we found ourselves starting to fall down slippery slopes she refused to give up on us, even when we were being idiots about it." Kyoko said in a tone similar to a sacred confession.

"Well her and Madoka." Sayaka smirked while poked Kyoko in the ribs with her elbow. The shared a small smile, a look in their eyes of two people who had survived hardships together.

Sayaka turned back to him with a serious expression, "But Mami isn't always so good about looking after herself, she's been through a lot and she suffers because of it _so often,_ she's afraid of being alone, and that can make her... willing to put things aside if she thinks it will keep bonds from breaking. What we want to do is make sure she's not setting herself up to get hurt again. We brought you here to ask you if you're genuine about your feelings and if you're serious about treating her right."

After that the table had gotten quiet. Todoroki was stone still in his seat, trying to keep his face neutral as his mind reeled for something to say. In turn Sayaka and Kyoko sat across from him with expectant expressions as they awaited his answer. He'd had his hands in his lap up until now but he placed them up on the table and took a deep breath.

"I don't want to give you any brash declarations that I think might win you over, the truth is I'm not sure if it's love or anything like that but I do really like her and I promise you that I _do_ care about whatever way I affect her emotions. And I promise you that I care about her, genuinely and seriously... my family situation growing up wasn't the happiest and it made me apprehensive about a lot of things, I think Mami and I relate on that. And having a good idea of what she's feeling, and seeing how it's only made her kind, I think she's amazing for that. I can't promise we won't have any problems ever, but I promise you I will never intentionally hurt her." That was all he can think to say, every word of it was true, he just hoped they saw his sincerity.

Kyoko and Sayaka's eyes slid to look at each other as though they were having a telepathic conversation, before they both smirked and got up from their chairs.

"Glad to here that." Sayaka said with a big grin on her face, "We'll let you get back to your weekend."

She and Kyoko began to walk around either side of the table so they flanked a slightly baffled Todoroki as they left, but while Sayaka went straight for the door, Kyoko held back a little a leaned down to sling her arm around his shoulders.

"I'm going to hold you to that promise ya hear me?" She asked with that plastered on grin never leaving her face, "and just remember that if you bring an ounce of pain into that good woman's life," she broke off to giggle a little before unwrapping her arm from his shoulders and speaking directly into his ear "I've got three friends and your number."

 **XXX**

An hour earlier on the other side of town Mami Tomoe was making her way down the street to a cafe she knew, she'd been working late last night and had just gotten home when she'd received an email from Todoroki asking if she'd like to meet up for lunch. She had wondered why he would email instead of just texting her but she had agreed none the less.

Once she got to the cafe she scanned the interior looking for Todoroki's dual coloured hair, he didn't seem to be here, was she early?

Mami was pulled from her musings when someone sitting at a table near the back abruptly stood up with surprising speed,

"Miss Tomoe?!" He asked loudly in an official tone, as if he were calling her in for a test. He looked a bit like an examiner too, with his tidy hair and square glasses.

"Um, yes?" She responded a little nervously,

Her eyes flicked to the other people sitting at his table, there was a girl around her age with her hair up in a spiky ponytail and a smaller boy who's fluffy hair had a green tinge to its ends, both looked a little uncomfortable with their friends gusto.

"Would you please like to join us at our table! We have some questions we'd like to ask you!"


	3. Homework

Mami couldn't help but feel a bit flustered as she stood in front of the U.A. dorm building. She then quickly shook her head for being so ridiculous, clutching the strap of her book bag just a bit tighter she made her way inside. She's already had to pass through a security check at the entrance but she still had to check in at a sign up desk in the lobby, according to Todoroki ever since the villain incident at the training camp the school had been beefing up on security, this included asking all of the students to move into on campus dorms, honestly Mami didn't have such a problem with that last one, Todoroki was incredibly defensive about Mami coming to his house or meeting his family, usually this lead to him spending a lot of time out of the house so it didn't affect him outwardly, but she couldn't help but notice a subtle change ever since he moved on campus, like he was a little bit more relaxed.

And if it meant they could spend a little more time together, well, she wasn't going to start complaining. That being said free time was becoming rarer and rarer of a luxury these days, between school, patrols, magic practice and working with her friends, she barely had time to do her homework.

...speaking of which.

A few brief knocks on the door and Todoroki was there to let her inside. The dorm was the size of a hotel room and sparsely decorated. He had a work desk but the two of them sat on the floor and spread their books over the low table.

15 minutes later and Todoroki was half way done with his homework and Mami had just finished the essay she had been putting off all week and was now asking her boyfriend for help with her biology exercise. Making sure you could be in all the right places at the right times was easier than her disciples gave her credit for, it was all a matter of organising, keeping your mind focused on the task at hand like listening to your teachers... that was a bit harder.

"Wouldn't it be easier to get help from your classmates?" he asked her while sliding closer to her so he could get a better look at her textbook.

Mami let out a little sigh, "If they saw how behind I actually am in our classwork they'd start asking questions about why and how, they already think it's weird enough that I never hang out with them after classes."

"What about your _other_ friends?"

At that suggestion Mami dotted the 'i' in her last sentence a little harder than was probably necessary. The slip in her composure made her re-grip her pencil and puff out her cheeks. "Well- you know I am in the class above them, they probably wouldn't be fair to ask them for help with _my_ work."

Todoroki didn't say anything, he just looked at her like he was waiting for the next part of her explanation.

"Besides," she continued "I'm their leader, I have appearances to keep up."

Todoroki sighed and placed a hand on her back, "It can't be healthy to be so worried about how others see you." He said simply.

"But it's not that different from you!" Mami protested, though she didn't shake off his hand, "a hero never lets the public see them get worried. They always make sure everyone sees them handling the situation with confidence and control, like All Might."

"I know that's what the pro's do for the public, but your friends are different, you don't have to hide things from them because they don't see you as their hero, they just see you as you are." His face softened at the end there, no doubt thinking about his classmates.

Mami clenched her hands into fists on the table and bit the inside of her lip, "But they don't..." she whispered "when they met me, they were scared and new to everything and I already had my footing, I was a veteran to them and so they relied on me, and at first I was just so happy to not be alone anymore that I didn't mind at all... actually I think I let it go to my head a little." Mami laughed a little but her thoughts were starting to spiral.

She could still remember the day she had first met Kyoko, Mami had helped her fight of a _what?._ And when she'd first met Madoka and Sayaka, one of her happiest memories, the day Madoka had taken her hand and said that she would fight beside her, when Madoka had promised Mami she wouldn't be alone anymore, she'd been so happy she had run head first through the _where?_ to rescue Sayaka from _what?!_. Why could did certain parts of her memories keep slipping away from her? And why was that happy memory with Madoka twinged with foreboding... had something happened that she forgot about?

Mami was pulled from her inner reflection by a sudden cool sensation on her skin, she blinked a few times and saw that Todoroki was tracing circles along her collar bone with his right index finger. He didn't say anything right away, giving her the chance to save her dignity.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, guess I spaced out a little there." Mami had giggled a little while she spoke, but once she finished speaking she couldn't stop giggling, she pressed her hands over her mouth but that just muffled the sound. After a moment of trying to figure it out on his own Todoroki eventually asked,

"Um, what is so funny?" He was starting to get a little worried for his girlfriend.

Mami tried taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down but she just ended up hiccuping, "N-nothing it's *hic* just-" she could feel her eyes watering, "I only came over here to do my homework!" And once she'd said it out loud she descended into full on laughter, wrapping her arms around her middle.

Todoroki still didn't fully understand what was _so_ funny about that, but the way Mami looked when she was laughing so hard was a priceless sight, how tightly her eyes screwed shut, the way her twin tails bobbed like jack-in-the-box springs, he couldn't help it he found himself chuckling along with her.

Mami started leaning against him at some point and soon she was leaning on him so much that he found himself falling onto his back, on instinct his hands grabbed onto her arms so she ended up on top of his chest. Mami went quiet for a heartbeat when she noticed their position, but then just started laughing at that. For his part Todoroki managed to resist grumbling that 'it wasn't _that_ funny.'

Mami's laughter vibrated through his chest and he felt as her breathing slowly returned to normal, he felt her hair nestled under his chin, the table seemed so far away at this point.

"So you've given up on that biology I take it?" He asked her.

In lieu of an answer Mami slid forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, his arms wrapped around her middle to hold her in place as he kissed her back. "Just this once," she said to him once she broke off the kiss, "to hell with the work."

What he wouldn't give to see her smile like that more often.

"And what about you?" She asked, "I'm pretty sure we're breaking some kind of rules right now." She giggled a little but this time it quickly died down.

Todoroki smirked and pulled the blonde in his arms closer, "Just this once?" He asked, "To hell with the rules."


	4. First Sight

They seemed to come out of nowhere.

It was nearing the end of their first semester, and part of their introduction to business class was to get an understanding of how agencies really worked, and to really make a point of it Midnight had apparently decided to take the class on a field trip to an agency a colleague of hers had started in Matakihara city.

The city wasn't known for its hero population so they mainly handled copyright issues. Once they were off the bus and walking down the streets, nearly the whole class found themselves admiring the city, it really was beautiful almost idealic looking, but most of all it was quiet. After the initial tour everyone had been given an hour for lunch, Todoroki had tagged along with Momo, Toru and Oujiro as they followed Momo to a restaurant she insisted they would love. All in all it was a pretty relaxing day.

And then the screaming started.

They all looked to see it coming from a building development surrounded by scaffolding around the corner, and on instinct they all ran towards it. Just in time they got close enough to see a person falling from one of the upper levels.

"Oujiro!" Todoroki yelled as he planted his hands down on the ground forming a ramp out of ice, taking his cue Oujiro immediately began running up the ramp and quickly jumped into the air to catch the falling civilian. His quirks agility allowed him to safely mange the landing, everyone then crowded nearer to see if the woman was okay. He was in a pencil skirt and waistcoat which were covered in what looked like grass stains, and although he seemed unharmed he had a horrified look on his face.

"E-everywhere, it was everywhere..." she muttered.

"What was everywhere?" Momo asked gently as she knelt down beside her.

"Th-the, the moss!" She choked out.

They all shared a look with each other (well except for Toru), clearly they was a villain at work here. Setting the woman down on the ground Oujiro immediately became serious, "Toru you need to run back to the agency and get Midnight and the other pro's,"

"Got it!" Toru chirped before sprinting back in the direction they'd come.

"Miss are you hurt at all?" Oujiro asked the woman, looking back down at her, she just kept muttering.

"I can't hear anything, do you think the villain is still up there?" Momo asked,

Todoroki prepared to make another ice ramp, "Let's find out." But Momo grabbed him by the arm,

"No! We should wait for the pro's to get here, we don't know what's up there!"

"Up there!" The woman stirred again, "the building crew is still up there!"

Todoroki looked back at Momo, her gaze was now downcast but her grip on his arm loosened just a little, she bit her lip and turned back to Oujiro, "Can you stay with her?"

He nodded, "We'll be fine, you two just be careful."

Momo nodded back at him and placed both hands on Todoroki's shoulders, with a shift of his stance he created an ice platform and suddenly they were rising into the air.

Once they got to a section without walls they jumped onto the steel beams that made up the skeleton of the building, walking along it like a tightrope they kept their eyes out for signs of movement, while they were walking Momo created a shield and a rod from her body.

Eventually they made it to the centre without signs of anything, until Todoroki heard a shifting sound from below them, he looked down to see the entire lower floor was covered in what looked like moss. There was one large mass sitting in the centre, it had a carpet of moss sprinkled with roses, and a series of green tentacles.

"Looks like that's are villain," Todoroki said quietly, "but where are the crew?"

After a few seconds of searching Momo gasped, "Todoroki..." she pointed at the floor, squinting down at where she was pointing he saw various lumps in the moss... various human shaped lumps.

Todoroki clenched his fists, "They could be suffocating." He stated getting ready to jump down but Momo stopped him again,

"We need to be careful, we can't risk jumping in head first."

"The people are trapped we don't have time to wait." He argued, Momo looked like she was about to argue more when a third voice was heard from above.

"Let's go!"

Suddenly four flashes of bright colour shot down from above them, they all landed on various places on the moss carpet of the floor, freeing four people before they all bounced back up to a steal beam opposite Momo and Tododroki. Now that they were standing still the two U.A. students could see that they were four girls around their age, all wearing bright and beautifully designed outfits and all brandishing some kind of weapon.

"Ready ladies?" called out the girl who was apparently the leader, she was dressed like an Irish regiment soldier with yellow accents, this comparison was further justified by the musket she expertly spun in her hands, her hair was tied into two twin tails that blended into two giant curls. Todoroki had meant to inspect the entire line up but his eyes seemed to keep returning to her. She seemed to glow.

All four girls then shifted into a battle ready stance while shouting in unison; "Puella Magi Holy Quartet!"

The golden girl spread her hands out towards the villain, "Syaka, cut the people out of their bindings!"

The girl with blue hair and a pair of sabers who was apparently Syaka grinned cockily, "I'm on it!"

"I'll keep the tentacles off her" said a girl a red haired girl with a spear, as they both jumped down into the green pit.

The leader then turned to a girl decked out in pink with an innocent face, "Madoka you take high ground and give us cover."

The pink girl nodded her head in a way that made of twin tails bob, "Okay." She responded cheerfully before she started leaping higher up into the air.

The groups leader then looked down at the villain with an expression of steely resolve, with her free hand she grabbed the hat from her head and swept it dramatically in front of her, four new muskets flashed into existence as she did so. What kind of quirk was that?

The golden girl then jumped into the pit along with Syaka and the redhead, however instead of joining them in freeing the civilians she began shooting the villains rose covered head with her muskets (which hovered near her while she moved). Half of the tentacles which had been harassing the red and blue girls began attempting to wrangle the golden girl. She balanced out her movements between shooting the villain and using the butt of her muskets to bat away the tentacles. Her movements were fast and fluid, she was clearly no only the leader of this group but also its most experienced member.

Enough of her shots had landed that the villain was letting out a shriekish howl, it lashed all of it's tentacles at her and managed to wrap a thick one around her legs. The villain jerked her out of her airiel routine and dangled her upside-down above its head, she had gone limp in its clutches but Todoroki could see her grimaced expression and her eyes darting about, looking for a way out.

"Mami!" cried out the red haired girl, seeing her friend in peril.

'Mami' looked down and seeing her partners distress, composed herself and smiled calmly, "Well I can't go looking uncool on our big debut now can I?"

With that she pulled a ribbon from its bow around her neck and it began slithering like a snake in the air, with a little manurering on Mami's part the ribbon swooshed towards the tentacles and somehow cut through them. Kicking the remains from her ankles she tucked and rolled in the air so that she was facing the villain, swirling the ribbon into a tornado it caused a glow similar to earlier and then she was hanging on to the end of a giant musket.

Who were these girls?

"Tiro Finale!" Mami announced as she fired flashy shot. The fight was over then and there. A huge flash of light exploded agains the villain head and it went fell backwards, the tentacles went slack.

Once Mami landed on the ground she elegantly swiped her skirt clean, the giant musket having dissapeared supposedly back to where it had come from. Syaka now noticing the fight was over took a break from slicing the pods of people one at a time, and craned her head backwards and shouted to the ceiling,

"Hey Madoka! How about a little help here?"

There was an agreeing chirpy sound from above when a sudden shower of pink lights showered down from where 'Madoka' apparently was, bolts of light landed on the lumps in the moss which caused them to _pop!_ open harmlessly, freeing the crewmen trapped within.

Madoka feel gracefully down from her perch and began helping her teammates help the crew back on their feet and check that they were okay.

Todoroki and Momo had been rendered frozen during this entire spectacle continued to watch on from their place, Momo was starting to feel a little awkward still holding the weapons she hadn't got a chance to use. Apparently they weren't as well obscured as they thought because at one point Syaka glanced in their direction by chance, seeing the two students she propped one of her swords onto her shoulder and whistled to get the other girls attention.

"Uh guys," she said casually "I think we've got some company."

No more point in hiding, Todoroki and Momo jumped down to the floor with the rest of them and faced off with the weapon branding idol look-a -likes. Taking charge once again, Mami was the first to step in front of the others and address the U.A. students.

"Hello." She smiled.

"Who are you?" Todoroki asked bluntly, in his mind uncertainty took priority over curtesy.

"Clearly you weren't paying attention when we literally announced ourselves." drawled the girl in red, clearly unimpressed with Todoroki in general.

"Kyoko." Syaka admonished under her breath, elbowing her friend in the side.

"My apologies for not answering your question right away," Mami cut back in, "but could I please ask who you are? I'm afraid I don't recognise your school uniforms."

"We're from U.A." Momo replied, having discarded her creations, "we're here on a field trip."

Madoka spoke up at that moment as well, "Your from the hero school?" she then immediately looked shy when this question brought the rooms attention to her.

Mami smiled again, "Yes we've heard of you, we're not affiliated with a hero course ourselves but-"

"You're not students?!"

"No?"

"Are you employed at an agency?"

"Well no, but-"

"Then where did you get those costumes? Those gadgets?!"

"We..."

"You can't just fight villain on your own like that! Especially at our age!"

"But-"

"And the way you were fighting- how were you doing that? What are your quirks?"

"Quirks?"

"This doesn't make any sen-"

xxXXxx

It was nearing the end of their first semester, and part of their introduction to business class was getting an understanding of how agencies really worked, and to make a point of it Midnight had decided to take the class on a field trip to an agency a colleague of hers had started in Matakihara city.

The city wasn't known for its hero population, so they mostly dealt with copyright issues. Once they were off the bus and walking down the street nearly everyone in the class found themselves admiring the city, it really was beautiful and almost idilic looking, but most of all it was quiet.

It was approaching lunch time and the agency head was just finishing off the tour when they reached a door at the end of one hall way. She turned to them excitedly.

"Now before we take a break for lunch I do have something I would like you all to see. As you may know Matakihara city doesn't have any notable heroes at the minute, and in the hero business at least 70% of the game is getting your name out there."

"Uhh, don't you think that might be exaggerating that a bit?" Midoriya asked meekly from the back of the group.

"Nope." The agency head dismissed with out a nano second of hesitation, "And as you also know an agency is responsible for managing their hero's publicity as well as boosting their reputation to the masses. Which is why-" she flung the door open with enthusiasm, "I'd like you all to meet Matakihara city's newest and best girl group, the Puella Magi!"

The room was an apparent lounge area, and seated in a group having apparently been waiting for this section of the tour were four girls around their age in pale yellow school uniforms. Sitting on the couch was a girl with a red pony tail and a poky box in her hand and a girl with a blue bob, they had been in the middle of an exaggerated conversation when the door opened, sitting at the table was a girl who came across as smaller and more innocent than the rest of the rooms occupants, her pale pink hair was tied a red ribbon into pig tails, she looked at the group with a politely timid expression, offering a little wave. Sitting next to her, sitting up with straight posture was a girl who looked a little older than the rest, her shiny blonde hair was curled into twin tails, her hands were folded in the lap of her plaid skirt, she offered the tour group a composed smile.

Todoroki had meant to look at all the girls more closely, but his eyes kept feeling pulled to look back at the blonde.

"These are my little entrepreneurs, Kyoko Sakura, Syaka Miki, my daughter-"

"Mom." The pinkette complained quietly.

"Madoka Kaneme, and the group leader Mami Tomoe."

"It's nice to meet all of you." Mami said warmly.

"I wasn't aware this city had a hero course." Ururaka wondered aloud.

"Oh it doesn't." Mrs. Kaname answered, startling Ururaka a bit, "These girls are operating under what you might call 'special circumstances', they attend an ordinary high school but the agency provides them with hero training in exchange for the assurance that they will be assigned to our agency once they get their licenses. Think of it like Hero private school." She grinned like she was explaining her plans for world domination.

"I wasn't aware that kind of thing was possible." Momo murmured, rubbing her chin,

Mrs. Kaname leaned her head down close to Momo's face, smirking, "It wasn't. Until I explained to the board how it was a great idea" she righted her posture, Midnight laughed and patted her on the back.

"Now you all have an hour for lunch," Midnight announced, "and Mrs. Kanames trainee's have kindly offered to show you around town."

With that the two groups began to mingle, Kyoko and Bakugou had to be separated immediately after a few choice comments about how all his snarling and knashing was going to mess up his teeth.

Todoroki and Mami caught each others eyes and found themselves staring, the sight of the girl was threatening to trigger something in the back of his mind, she was beautiful of course, and clearly a nice person from the little conversation they'd had so far. But despite how ridiculous he knew it sounded (ridiculous and cheesy) he could almost say it felt like he'd met her before.


	5. Fantasy AU

Prince Shoto of house Todoroki.

He just couldn't get used to it. Until a few days ago he'd been a young nobleman, admittedly not a common position but he had been just one of a group. Now his father was preparing to ascend to the throne, he was his truly his fathers heir now. He was trapped.

He rode his horse as fast as it could go. He wasn't sure how far away from the castle he'd gotten at this point but he just wanted to keep moving. His father had a new set of armour and sword delivered to his room, they might as well have been shackles, both engraved with the family crest, a flaming wreath above the word ' _endeavour',_ the minute he'd seen it it of course brought up a flood of memories about his mother.

She had fled back to her family in the North when he was a child, he didn't blame her for not taking him with her, she'd been terrified of his father, paranoid to the point he'd caught her muttering to herself that night in the kitchen she'd given him his scar.

The idea of using that sword, of wearing that crest... the walls had suddenly felt like they were closing in. He'd burst into a run for the stables as short of breath as he was feeling. Thinking of swords, the lack of a scabbard on his hip was becoming increasingly noticeable to him. In a moment of absent mindedness one of his hands let go of the horses reigns and began to wander to the place where a weapon usually hung from his hip.

It was at this moment of course that his horse decided to abruptly stop in its tracks.

Shoto found himself flung from his saddle and flying through the air, his head was the first thing to hit the ground, followed by a painful impact on his back. The momentum sent him into a full forward tumble so he wound up with his face in the dirt, moaning at his aches and pains. The horse whinnied behind him before he heard it gallop away. He wondered if that was going to become a habit with this horse. For a while he didn't feel very inclined to try moving, so he just lay there wondering just what higher power he had angered so.

He was pulled from his melancholy by the sound of approaching footsteps, moving at a quick pace, "Hello?" Called out a feminine voice, Shoto lifted his head out of the dirt and looked forward to see a girl in a yellow dress hurrying towards him. She came to a skidding halt in front of him and knelt down by his shoulders, "Are you alright? Can you get up?" She asked as she leaned over him inspectantly.

Shoto pressed his palms against the soil and began to push himself up, but his spine protested his efforts with a sharp pain, he yelled out in reaction as his hands scrunched into fists and his arms lost their strength, but before he was reunited with the ground the girls arms flew out to hold him up by the chest.

"Easy, easy" she chided as she pulled him closer to her, she slowly started to stand while pulling him up with her, she manoeuvred him so he was leaning most of his weight on her and they slowly began to make their way inside. Shoto lifted his eyes to get a better look at the building, it was large stone construction with a steeped roof and warm light glowing from the windows, he was fairly sure it was some kind of church, he thought he heard voices coming from the open door but he must have hit his head harder than he realised because his vision was starting to get cloudy around the edges, and before they were close enough for him to see through the threshold everything was going black.

 **:::::::::::::::**

When he finally started to wake back up he was lying on a soft surface, at least he thought so, a large portion of his back and torso were tingling with numbness, but he could feel warmth in the air, so he knew he must be in doors.

He cracked his eyes open slowly, wincing at the flood of light. Once his vision adjusted he looked upwards and he saw a pair of extended arms manoeuvring something around his head, he tried to lift his arms up but his limbs felt stiff and pillowy so he could just about get them a few inches off the bed.

The arms above him ceased their action and one of them reached down to place a hand on the arm he was trying to lift, "You're awake." said a familiar voice.

He got a better look at his saviours face this time around. She had a round face, framed by yellow hair that glowed in the rooms light, the length of it was tied into a lose ponytail that hung over her shoulder, her honey coloured eyes were looking down at him, full of concern and happiness at his consciousness.

She smiled kindly at him, "I was starting to get a little worried." She said jokingly,

Shoto opened his mouth to say something but his mouth was much drier than he realised and all that came out was a cracked croak. The blonde's hands left his arms, she shifted from her place at his side, she came back and slid one arm under his back so that she could help him into a sitting position, once he was up she brought a cup to his lips so that Shoto could drink the icy water it contained.

Once he was done drinking he turned his head to look at her again. "Better?" She asked,

"Yes." He replied briefly.

She set the cup down on a table near the bed (he realised that's what he was lying on) and lowered him back down gently.

"How do you feel?" She asked him

"Numd." He realised that the shortness of his answers probably seemed rude, especially to the woman who saved him, but the entire ordeal coupled with his still healing injuries had left him more than a little heady.

"That's the ointment I put on your bandages, it has a bit of a numbing agent, luckily you didn't brake anything when you fell but you had some nasty bruises and a cut on your head, I didn't want to risk you moving around in your sleep and hurting yourself anymore"

"I didn't fall, my horse threw me off." He wasn't sure why he had responded in that way, the words had fallen out of his mouth in his usual deadpan tone before he could think of a proper response. Maybe he'd hit his head harder than he'd realised.

But the blonde just laughed in response, covering her mouth demurely as she did so. "Well at least your pride isn't as bruised as your back. Don't worry about your horse by the way, a friend of mine is out looking for him."

"Thank you." Shoto croaked, once again she brought the water to his lips, "Not just for my horse I mean, I owe you my thanks for... well, very likely saving my life."

"You owe me no such thing, I saw a person in front of me who needed help and simply did what anyone else would."

The young noble couldn't help but smile at the simplicity with which she stated that fact, "Then allow me to thank fate, for seeing me to your line of sight lady..."

Her eyes widened slightly in realisation, "That's right, we haven't exactly had the chance to introduce ourselves have we?" She smiled at him again, and the numbness of his medicines momentarily gave way to a sensation of warmth, "My name is Mami."

"I am-" he managed to catch himself short of using his full title, he didn't want to burden such a kind woman with the pressure of a noble in her care, "My name is Shoto."

 **::::::::::::::**

After that evening it took another week for his injuries to heal. Mami brought him meals in bed until his muscles allowed him to get up and walk around, everyday, little by little he got stronger.

His initial guess about the building had been correct, Mami had told him that the modest grey stone building had once been a church to a religion that was close to being long forgotten, she was part of the last generation to learn the practises, but continuing to live in the church and offer a helping hand to those in need was enough to still count her as a sister of the church. The interior was esentially one big room, pieces of furniture pushed into corners and against the walls, the only really noticable feature was the large stain glass window. It depicted a compassionate goddess dressed in white, her long pink hair floating around her as she lay against a field of gold, though when he'd first arrived he could remember looking at it as he fell asleep under the influence of Mami's medicines, thinking that the colours had inverted to swirling blacks and purples.

His third day up and about they had worked out a kind of routine, the house work was good exercise for his limbs but Mami kept a watchful eye over him in case he over exerted himself. It was on that day the truth came out. He was back on his horse, cantering around the open space in front of the church, she was sitting watching him by the front door, she always had composed look about her, it made it hard for Shoto to guess what she was thinking.

"So," she began once he was close enough to hear her, "when were you planning on telling me you were the prince?"

Shoto didn't think he could live with himself if he fell off his horse again, but he came close to doing just that.

Mami laughed at his shock, not bothering to cover her mouth like when they first met. "Even if you're clothes weren't clearly tailored for nobility, two toned hair and a burn over the right eye isn't exactly a conspicuous description."

His mood quickly sliding from shocked to grumpy, he jumped down from his horse and tied it up next to the trough.

"How did you find out?" He asked once they were face to face, he couldn't recall a time when Mami had been away from the church, or seen anyone else came by.

"Well when the crown prince goes missing-"

"I'm not the prince!" He snapped.

As per usual, she didn't snap back at him or get hurt and defensive, her face remained neutral, inviting him to explain himself. Shoto closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

It didn't come out all at once, he just couldn't bring himself to talk about everything. But every time he finished with one explanation Mami would ask a question that would prompt a whole new story. On the final night, the two of them were sitting on the floor in front of the fire, they were sipping summer wine from the two cooper cups that hadn't rusted through. He had brought Mami up on all the events leading up to his horse throwing him onto her doorstep.

"And what do you plan to do now?" Mami asked him after five minutes of amicable silence.

"Excuse me?"

"You ran away from your home because you didn't want to be prince, correct?"

"Not while my fathers king." He grunted, Mami just nodded curtly. His father had come up a lot over the past few days.

"That I understand, but it still leaves the question, once you leave this place where will you go? To a friend? Board a boat and travel to the edge of the world? Or maybe you'll go looking for fairies and ask them for advice." She added that last part with a mischievous smile.

Shoto crossed his legs and leaned his elbows on his knees. He hadn't exactly left home with a destination in mind, and over the last few days he had allowed himself the luxury of not thinking about anything beyond the tree line surrounding the church. There wasn't anyone he could go to that his fathers influence wouldn't reach them, he didn't want to put anyone in that kind of danger. But as Mami said, that left him with the question of where would he go from here?

Taking a shuddering breath, he straightened his back and looked the woman who had saved him in the eyes, "I don't know. I can't go to anyone I used to know, but I don't know what to do with myself on my own."

Mami brought her cup to her lips and tipped it up, draining the vessel of its contents, then she stood up from her seat, dusted off her dress and smiled down at him.

"Well lucky for you, no one said you had to figure it all out right now." She told him cheerily. Mami turned towards the wall and began going through a chest that had been functioning as a table for various sheets. "The thing that few people tend to realise about the world, or even the countries they live in," as she spoke her arms were disappearing deeper and deeper into the chest, "is that its much bigger than they realise, which means you can spend a lot of time exploring it!" The last word turned into a bit of a shout as she yanked a long item out from the depths.

As she carried it back toewards him he saw that it was a sheathed sword, knelt down in front of him and held it out for him to take. He picked it up with both hands and felt its weight, he then examined the leather sheath, slightly worn but still durable. He then uncovered the blade to see the sword in its entirety. Admittedly he had grown up around the finer things in life, so it wasn't really any surprise when his first thought of the sword was that it was... well, rather basic. The blade was undamaged but needed some maintenance to be up to professional standards, the hilt was standard leather and wood, the one remarkable thing about it was the yellow gemstone in the centre of the hilt.

"Walk the land," Mami spoke like she was reciting a sermon, "live one day at a time, work randomly and live sporadically, have new experiences and let new people into your heart. And then one day, you'll realise there's something out there for you to do."

Shoto stared dumbly, first at the sword then at her. He wanted to ask why she would do all this? For him, a stranger? She assured him his status meant nothing to her. But how could she have so much to offer? How did she know what to say?

But instead of letting him ask any of those questions, she leaned forward and pressed her fingertip to his lips.

"You don't have to say anything, just rest on the thoughts tonight, and see what you think when they sunrises." She then leaned even closer to his face and brushed her lips against his cheek "Good night, Shoto."

She left him sitting by the fire in a daze, after a few moments he blinked his eyes back into focus and looked over to see her curled up on her bedroll. He extinguished the fire and went over to his own. He attached the sword to his belt and lay down on top of the covers. That night he closed his eyes and went to sleep thinking about Mami's words.

 **::::::::**

He was woken the next morning by blinding sunlight, he screwed his eyes tight and put a hand up to cover the offending light, when he finally opened his eyes he saw that he was under an open sky, his other hand felt grass beneath him. He sat up to look around him. All there was were stone ruins of a buildings outline, and his horse tied to a tree branch, the sword Mami had given him was still attached to his belt, but there was no sign of her. He was about to start shouting for her when he remembered something she'd said last night.

About fairies giving advice to wanderers.

He smiled to himself halfheartedly as his hand rested on the swords hilt.

He got back on his horse and rode to cliff over looking the castle that had once been his home, he wondered if his family was still living there. He heard the sound of voices behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see a knight in armour, a witch in pink, and a squire in green.


	6. What other people think

The first few weeks after the sports festival were always an interesting time for agencies, everyone watched the new UA students' performances at the sports festival and this years one had been a doozy. The pro hero Thrasher wasn't too sure how things worked at other agencies but at the Endeavour agency, all new hires (even if they were just temporary interns) were decided solely by the big guy himself. So it hadn't been too shocking when the only student that had been invited too their agency hand been Endeavours own son.

He said not too surprising since the two of them didn't seem to have the _best_ relationship. His boss was normally intense, and had a habit of ordering his subordinates around like sheep dogs, but every time Thrasher saw the two of them together, the number two hero was practically breathing down his sons neck, while the student would either snark back at him in a deadpan tone or silently ignoring him.

Shoto Todoroki wasn't a bad kid himself, a little quiet and on the intense side, but he was polite to everyone else and agreeable enough to work with. Thrasher supposed that maybe it was just the kids apparent dislike of his father having an affect on his personality, but Thrasher couldn't imagine the boy was very popular with others his own age. So that made it all the more surprising when, on the third day of Shoto's internship a beautiful blonde came to the agency looking for him with a smile on her face.

He'd been at his desk, having to work through lunch that day due to an influx of paper work, in fact he'd become so engrossed he didn't see the girl standing in front of him until she made her presence known.

"Excuse me?" chirped a voice.

Thrasher looked up to see a girl in her teens, she had blonde hair that fell down her back, she was wearing a white blouse and a tan skirt that covered her from waist to knee, in her hands was a wrapped up item that he assumed was a bento box.

He jerked into a upright position at his desk, how long had she been standing there? ignoring customers was not professional or heroic! He tried to think of the right thing to say but mostly his mind was distracted by the smell coming from her bento box and his stomaches subsequent reminder that he hadn't had lunch today.

"S-sorry about that miss. Can I help you with something?" he asked in hopes of amendment.

She offered him a good natured smile, which made her look familiar to him somehow, before answering, "Yes, actually I'm just a little lost around here, I was hoping you could help me find someone?"

He relaxed a little, apparently this wasn't a serious matter.

"Do you have an appointment with one of our agents miss?" while going about procedure for guests the back of Thrashers mind was trying to figure out where he'd seen this girl before.

"Oh I'm not here for business or anything, it's actually for more of a personal reason." Her smile widened a bit "I'm looking for Shoto Todoroki."

"Shoto?" Thrasher hoped he didn't sound as shocked as he felt.

"Yes, he's interning here from UA?"

"Oh n-no, I know who he is-" Thrasher spluttered "it's just, uh... what is the, um, nature of your visit?" he figured that was better than just going the blunt route and asking "what do you want with him?" or "what are you doing here?"

"Well I know these internships can keep you pretty busy from what he's told me, so I thought he might appreciate something hot and fresh for lunch." She held up her package for inspection, and it took considerable control on thrashers part to keep his stomach from growling.

"How kind." He said, trying not to let the env creep into his tone, "Forgive me for being forward, but may I ask how you two know each other miss..."

Her golden eyes widened noticeably as she brought her other hand to her mouth with an expression of seeming self disappointment "So rude of me." She muttered under her breath. "I'm so sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier." She apologised as if she had spilled the contents of her lunch into his lap.

He offered a cordial laugh to diffuse the situation and stuck his hand out for shaking, "Don't worry about it, folks around here call me Thrasher."

She took his hand in hers, "I'm Mami Tomoe."

And then it all clicked into place, without realising he'd done it, Thrasher pulled her closer to him by the hand, so that he could get a better look at her face, "Mami Tomoe? From the Kaname Hero Agency?"

Dispite the natural feeling of distress at the sudden proximity, the lass did a good job of keeping her composure, "Um, yes?"

"I saw your teams photo spread in last weeks _Ultra Life_! You guys practically had that whole issue dedicated to you!" He'd been lying on the couch at home with his boyfriend, Lee had drawn his attention to it because he was surprised how young all the girls were to already have agency contracts, he himself had been shocked because, while media coverage was a tool often used by new or up and coming agencies to get some attention drawn to them, a brand new agency with only four underage girls to take credit for, and not even fully certified to boot, getting all the main photo ops in one of Japans most popular magazines was something he could safely say had never happened before.

"Your manager must me some kind of demon to have made that happen!" He excitedly exclaimed, he then realised the position he was holding the minor in a quickly dropped her hand.

Mami laughed a bit awkwardly, using the hand he had been holding to rub the back of her head, "Yes it was certainly a great opportunity, though I shouldn't say it like that, Mrs. Kaname is very good at getting what she wants. I have to admit though, it felt a bit more like a fashion shoot at times." She grumbled that last bit.

He thought back to a couple of the splash pages he'd glanced at from Lee's shoulder, they had seemed at bit like something Uwambi would have posed for. Only the introductory articles and a couple of posed battle ready pictures had shown the girls in their hero costumes.

"Matakihara's a bit of a ways away from here just to bring someone lunch. You two really that close?" He was more than a little curious now, as previously stated he hadn't really imagined Shoto being to popular amongst his peers, but here was a girl that it wouldn't be wrong to classify as a rising star in the Hero industry, going out of her way to bring him lunch. Thrasher guessed the stoic type must have become more popular since he was in high school.

"Well I'd been planning to come up and visit anyway, so I just thought-" but she was cut off by the intervention of a third party.

"Mami?" asked Shoto Todoroki as he approached Thrashers desk, eyes locked on the blonde, but despite how Mami's face lit up when she saw him, he looked less than thrilled to see her there.

"Todoroki." The pleasantness in her voice was an indication that she hadn't noticed the storm clouds brewing above his head. She held up the lunch she'd made and offered him a bright smile. "I thought you might appreciate a l-" Mami found herself cut off when Shoto grabbed her by the arm and began bodily pulling her towards and through the doors to the stair well. While she didn't resist or make a scene, by the look on her face gave Thrasher the opinion that she was none to pleased about the situation.

He watched the two of them leave the office and waited a few minutes after the sounds of their footsteps dissipated, he looked around at the other desks, but everyone else had either not noticed or was pretending not to have. Thrasher rolled his chair back, just enough to see out the window behind him and onto the street. Just in time to see the two teenagers pop into view.

He can't hear them of course, but he knows enough about body language to tell that they're having an argument. Shoto is stiff and rigid while he speaks, hands clenched into fists, and keeping his head bowed for the most part. Mami is a little more expressive, at the start she only clutches onto the bag she's holding more tightly, but as it goes on she gets more animated, even poking him in the chest with her finger, it goes on like this for a little while longer, until Shoto said _it._ That one thing that gets said in every _real_ fight, that one thing that takes you both over the line and leaves you regretting opening your mouth.

Shoto has the misfortune of being the regretful one in this argument, as Mami suddenly flinches and coils in on herself, truly hurt.

Shoto seems to realise what he's done immediately, but when he tries to reach out to her she takes a step back. An uncomfortable looking silence hangs between them for what must feel like forever to them. Eventually Mami steps forward and looks Shoto right in the eye. She says something to him that makes his eyes widen, he begins to say something, but she holds up her hand to silence him, she keeps talking for a while, then she shifts her hand to cup the side of his face, and then they were just looking at each other. Thrasher began to feel like he was watching something private, but just before he turned away the two teenagers brought their heads together and he whirled around in his chair with maybe a little more force than necessary. The stoic type had _definitely_ become more popular since he was a teenager.

A few minutes later Shoto came back into the office, carrying the lunch Mami had brought him. He looked like he was carrying a weight on the back of his neck.

Before he could stop himself Thrasher asked him "Everything okay?"

Shoto looked up at him like he had forgotten there were other people in the office, he took a few steps towards Thrashers desk, opening his mouth like he was about to say something, when the temperature in the room went up.

"Shoto!" Endeavour bellowed from the other side of the room, "The others are about to give me their patrol reports, you should see how this is done!" He turned around and left without waiting for his sons response.

"Things could be better." Shoto said after his father had left, without looking at Thrasher "I have to talk to my father about something."

There was a tiny thud as Shoto dropped the wrapped box onto Thrashers desk, before stalking off in the direction his father had gone. He didn't say a word or turn back to face the hero who had been watching the encounter, but Thrasher couldn't imagine the young boy was making a very pleasant expression.


	7. Hero & Leander AU

The festival was the highlight of his year, he left the familiar walls of the temple and sailed across the deep blue Hellespont to the bright lights of the city he had spent so many nights admiring from the window in his bedchamber.

His face remained a neutral mask, but as he approached the shoreline, and the sounds of cheering and music built up from a faint and distant hum to an explosion of drums, lutes and dancing feet.

His duty was to oversee the offerings to Aphrodite, to convey the people's prayers and requests to the goddess of love and beauty. But if during the process he ended up enjoying himself, surely that couldn't be helped. A city official met him at the docks and lead him into the city streets. The statue of Aphrodite that he'd be stationed at was already draped in flowers and brightly coloured banners. Rows of incense were burning at the statues base. As a priest of Aphrodite he'd grown up surrounded by images of his patron goddess, but the way this statue looked tonight, covered in offerings and surrounded by adorations, he felt best captured the spirit of the lady of doves.

As soon as he took his place at Aphrodites feet, people began swarming towards the priest. He pulled the fabric of his hood further down, hoping the shadows it cast would conceal the scaring on his face. No one at the temple had ever poked fun or made cruel comments about his appearance but he couldn't silence his own insecurities when they whispered about the irony of a scared Servant of a beauty goddess.

The prayers were the usual, requests for love and beauty, but he he collected each offering with a sagely visage. Between each worshipper he would look out at the crowd, throngs of people drinking and dancing like wood nymphs. Then out of the corner of his eyes he caught a flash of gold.

On impulse he turned around to search out the flash, the tight packs of people made it hard to pick out anyone in particular, but he kept seeing that glimpse of gold coming in and out of his sight, he stretched as far as he could without moving from his spot. Eventually he got a clear view, a group of girls joined by the hands were spinning around in a circle, the flash of gold he'd been following was the firelight reflecting of the blonde hair of one of the dancing maids. She was waring a flowing white dress and gold jewellery jangled around her limbs and neck, her hair seemed like it had been done up in braids but a long night of dancing had begun to shake it lose. At some point she must have felt his eyes on her because she let go of her friends hands and went still, she turned to look at him.

Golden gaze met hetrochromic eyes. And the world narrowed down to two people. He couldn't tell how long the two of them stood like that, but when the corners of her mouth lifted up into a small smile he felt his face heat up like he was sitting in front of a fire, he ducked his head down, unfamiliar with the emotion blooming to life in his chest. When he lifted his eyes again she was gone from her spot. He searched the crowd for a few minutes but he couldn't find that flash of gold. He resigned himself to the anticlimax and continued on with his work.

He had just offered his blessings to a newly married couple, and when he turned to the next person in line his vision was invaded by a familiar sight, she smiled at him again just like before, and it was even more beautiful up close.

"Have you come to make an offering?" The words fell out of his mouth automatically. What in the underworld was wrong with him?

She let out an airy giggle at his words, "Well I suppose it would be rude of me to take up your time without offering up something." She reached up a hand and tugged a large golden comb from her hair, the blonde tresses fell dramatically around her shoulders, the handle of the comb was decorated with flower patterns and amber stones, she held it out for him to take, their fingers brushed when he reached for it, and if either were slow to come apart no one made note of it.

"I remember seeing you at the last festival." She said when they finally separated, "Is it the only time you come into the city?"

He nodded "The rest of the time I carry out my duties in the temple. But I can see the city from my window."

A whimsical look came over her face, "I find myself looking to the temple often, from the beech, even though it's so far away I've always thought it was a beautiful building. Practically invisible at night though." She added that last bit with a chuckle.

"Perhaps if it were lit up like this city." He replied with a dry laugh.

The two of them made idle chatter until the other worshippers could be held back no longer. The golden maid was pushed away and swallowed into the mass of people.

The priest was forced to see to the others, he looked out for a flash of gold for the rest of the night but he did not see her again.

That night, after he'd returned to the temple and retired to his bedchamber he leaned his head out the window and looked to the city. It was still shining like a firefly though he could no longer hear the music. Fleetingly he remembered the girl and her words about the temple being invisible in the dark. For reasons he could not quite explain he lit a lantern and set it up in his window. And as he fell asleep that night he imagined a golden haired maid looking across the Hellespont and seeing the far off light.

He was woken from his slumber when he heard heavy breathing and the sound of dripping water. He opened his eyes and shot up in bed when he saw the sight in front of him. Perched on the window and dripping wet from the neck down, her hair and dress were somehow mostly dry but stuck down with damp where they touched her skin. The lantern he had set in the window was the sole source of illumination in the room but their eyes found each other's without problem.

"How?" He asked breathlessly,

"I swam." She responded in between her pants for breath,

"Across the Hellespont. In the dark."

"I saw your light." She leaned in towards his lantern, "And... I couldn't explain it if you gave me all the words in a library, but I realised something."

"What?"

"I never got your name."

And with that the strings of fate that had been looping around the priest of Aphrodite and the doomed youth went taught, pulling them together and holding them in place.

He pulled the covers from his bed crawled towards where she was leaning into the room. "Shouto." He told her.

This time the smile on her face rivalled the lantern for brightness. "Mami" She replied.

He held out his hand to bring her inside, and she linked their fingers together.

 _He touched her hand; in touching it she_

 _trembled:_

 _Love deeply grounded hardly is_

 _disassembled._

 _These lovers parlèd by the touch of hands;_

 _True love is mute, and oft amazèd stands._

 _Thus while dumb signs their yielding_

 _hearts entangled,_

 _The air with sparks of living fire was spangled._

 **XxxxXxxxX**

For another month their nights consisted of that routine, he would light the lantern in his window and then sit on the ledge listening to the waves splashing against the rocks beneath the temple walls, then he would hear the sound of the water breaking, the slaps of wet skin against rock as Mami scaled her way up the rock face, now that Shouto knew to wait for her he would lean out the window and stretch out his hands in the darkness until he could feel her sea soaked palms grasping onto his. And it didn't matter how many times he pulled her onto the window ledge, that first moment where she came into the lanterns light, her mouth an open smile and her eyes shining with an anticipation for their meetings that matched his own.

"Like Aphrodite she emerges." He whispered, it had become something of a joke in lieu of a greeting for them, and it never failed to make her laugh.

Once she was inside he would wrap his blanket around the both of them, he would rub his hands up and down her forearms to try and bring the heat back to her body. They would spend the night like that with their sides pressed together, whispering conversations about trivial things from their days or saying nothing at all, simply lying in amicable silence, simply taking pleasure in each other's company.

And sometimes they took pleasure in other ways.

One dawn, when the stars had started to disappear from the sky, they were reluctant to move from the warm space they had made on his bed, he was playing with strands of her gleaming hair while she took note of the time, knowing if she waited any later to leave one of them was likely to be caught.

"Do you think Aphrodite minds? Having to share you with me?" She asked absentmindedly as she sat up.

Shouto wrapped an arm around her shoulders and nuzzled his head against her neck, "I think it would be very against her nature for a goddess of love to take issue with us."

"And even if she did, the night hides so many things." Mami responded with a hint of melancholy as she swung her legs over the window ledge.

Shouto grabbed onto her wrists before she could fully jump out, he pressed their foreheads together and held her gaze like something fragile and still blooming.

"I'd spend every minute with you if I could." He told her, voice filled with conviction.

The sight of how her eyelids dropped slightly as she smiled was one he made sure to memorise. They pressed their lips together into one long lasting goodbye kiss before she dropped out of his sight until the sun sunk beneath the horizon once more.

 **XxxxXxxxX**

Once she returned to the shore line, Mami was always careful to make sure she swam to and from an rocky enclosure that hid her from immediate view. She snuck back into her house before sunrise, securing a few hours of sleep for herself. Then she woke her little sister Nagisa and fixed breakfast for the both of them. She hugged her sister before sending her off to school, promising to swipe some cheese from the tavern kitchen for dinner, she made this promise so that she could see her sister smiling like it was her birthday before she left for work.

 **XxxxXxxxX**

The fisherman that delivered the temples food warned the attending priestess that a terrible storm was coming. That priestess then gave that warning to the rest of the tables inhabitants. Unbeknownst to the rest of them Shouto lowered his head to hide how he was gnawing on his lower lip, he decided he shouldn't put his lantern out that night, he was sure that Mami wouldn't try to swim across the Hellespont during a storm, but just to be sure he would remove the light she used to guide her way in the dark.

 **XxxxXxxxX**

The sand swallowed her feet as she tried to drag her way across the beech it was the only place where she wasn't surrounded by people asking if there was anything that they could do for her, if she was okay.

Only here could she shriek and wail and let the floods of tears leave what we're sure to be permanent stains on her face.

It had been such a normal day until one of the school children had burst into the tavern, bodily pulling Mami from her work and screaming that she needed to come right away, she'd come along out of concern but it wasn't until she heard him say Nagisa's name that she began to run. With her heart hammering against her ribs.

Nagisa. Sweet Nagisa. Her beloved little sister.

They had been playing in the yard outside the schoolhouse, racing to see who could climb to the top of the tree fastest. She'd been doing quite well apparently. She'd climbed onto a branch that couldn't take her weight. She'd let go of the trunk to reach the branch above her. The branch had snapped. She'd hit the ground head first.

Her skin was already going cold by the time Mami got there. Her pallor now matching the paleness of her hair.

Her eyes hurt from crying. Her throat hurt from screaming. Her heart _ached_ from shattering.

Finally she fell to her knees and curled up on herself, not caring about the indignity of her appearance, or how the soles of her feet were burning from the hot sand.

When she finally raised her head to gulp in some stale air, her vision took in the Hellespont. The sun was starting to set but she could still see the temple on the other side of the water. The night before she had been so content, so happy broken off from the rest of the world in Shouto's room, lying in each others embrace. And in that moment all Mami wanted was to return to that feeling of warmth and contentment, nothing would ever be okay again but if she could just grab hold of a little bit of that feeling then maybe she could bring herself to getting back up again. And maybe the tears wouldn't sting her eyes so much is she were crying on Shouto's shoulder.

Before she knew it she was wading into the water, normally she would be careful not to be seen, she would wrap her dress around her head in a make-shift turban to keep it from getting soaked. But she didn't care about any of that now, the light from the sun was starting to fade already but she would be half way there by the time it got dark and then Shouto would light his lantern for her and she would follow that glow in the distance.

 _I want to see you, I want to see you_ she thought as the water came up to her neck and she began to swim.

 **XxxxXxxxX**

 _Both robbed of air, we_

 _both lie in one ground,_

 _Both whom one fire had_

 _burnt, one water_

 _drowned._

 **XxxxXxxxX**

The following week he sailed across the Hellespont with a fellow Priestess, after the storm had finally passed and it had been made safe to sail again they had received word from the city, there had been the death of a family during the turbulence of weather, and they had been asked to preside over the funeral. Apparently the eldest was known to favour Aphrodite in her prayers.

When they arrived at the city Shouto only needed to look around to see how important this family must have been, all those around him were mourning and broken hearted, even id they did not outright show their grief you could see it in their eyes being slightly dimmer, their bodies being slightly slower and hunched over.

A red headed girl around his age meet them at the funeral grounds, she had been a friend of the family and had arranged everything.

"The village had been in such disarray after the storm... And we didn't even find her body till a few days ago." She broke off into hitched breaths that were trying to conceal sobs. "They have everything now, their best clothes, and a coin for the ferryman. It shouldn't be to late right?" The girl asked desperately.

Midnight placed a calm hand on her shoulder and reassured the girl that her friends souls would not find themselves lost due to ill timing, "You've done well by them." She assured with a smile.

While they were talking Shouto had walked forward towards the bodies, to get a look at them before he and Midnight started the rites. From where he had entered he could see that both had died young, though one was very tiny in comparison to the other. As he approached though was when he started to see their features beneath the burial shrouds, closed eyes and lips in a flat line, you could almost tell yourself they were sleeping.

The smaller one had been dressed in a fur cloak despite the warm weather, clearly a favourite piece of clothing, the elder had been dressed in a flowing white dress and gold jewellery. Just like the night he'd first seen her.

Shouto didn't know how long he stood there staring at the bodies of the girl he'd loved and her little sister. He barely felt it as Midnight pushed him from place to place around the burial site, and later he would thank years of repetition for allowing his tongue to take over and recite the rites for him while his mind whirled and a grieving voice bemoaned, _how? how? how did this happen?_

If any of the other priests and priestesses noticed anything about his behaviour from that day onward they said nothing.

But after they returned from the city that day he never went back there, not for weddings, or festivals. He didn't want to see the place she had lived and the mourning faces of all the people who'd gotten to have more time with her than he did. He kept his window locked shut day and night.

 **XxxxXxxxX**

 _O It lies not in our power_

 _to love or hate_

 _For will in us is overruled_

 _by fate._


	8. How did this happen?

**Happy valentines day my beautiful readers!**

 **Before we begin this chapter I would like to thank Awesomeness3013 for following, Ace.W.15 for favouriting, and our two reviewers: Guest and Rene.**

 **I love you all~**

 **And of course I do not own Hero Aca or Madoka**

* * *

Once upon a time there was a girl. She had been sick and lonely, until she found friendship, until she found true beauty and kindness. Then tragedy struck and the girl found something she would fight her whole life for. And then tragedy struck again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

Until the girl finally lost the light she had been fighting for. And she fell, fell, fell.

And now here she sat, in this cosy, empty void where Madoka once lived. They would never be together. But Madoka would be happy. That was all that mattered. But it was impossible to be happy in this world of theirs.

So she began looking to other realms of existence. Realms mechanical giants, travels across the stars, pirates, nine tailed beasts, demonic swords, realms where the world had fallen to war, plague, vampires, the walking dead. She looked closely into the homes of other magical girls, she saw the moon, clear cards, endangered animals, bloody clothes and revolutionary girls.

But none of these would be the right fit.

Then she found it. A world of heroes. It was bright and hopeful, not devoid of struggle but the good people out weighed the bad, and there would be a chance for her there.

So the devil that had once been called Homura Akemi held the world she had been born in, and cradled it close to her chest, it had been altered right down to the root more than once thanks to her, but she could never get it right. Maybe you just couldn't plant flowers in bad soil.

So she reached into the world her Madoka lived in a pulled out the light that was her love. She was so small in her palm but Homura swore she could feel the warmth of Madoka's soul. She pulled out the lights of Madoka's family as well and held them all in her hand. Then after a moments consideration she reached into the world again and brought her other hand back out, cradling the lights of Mami Tomoe, Syaka Miki, Kyoko Sakura, and Nagisa Momoe. They had never understood her, never understood what she'd been trying to do. But she supposed they deserved a chance to have happy lives as well.

She added the lights to this world of heroes. There was no magic there so she would have to fix that. She broke the world down into threads and wove it into a new pattern.

Once her work was done she threw the world that had been her home from her breast and didn't watch as it tumbled into the nothingness. She took the new world she had remade into both of her hands and curled herself around it in the vast space where a goddess had been ripped down. She held the new world close, and watched as the show began.

* * *

 **This was a short one I know, and I'm sorry it was a little** **weird, but I wanted to write this chapter before the end of the story. Hopefully this explains somethings and you all enjoyed it anyway. I've been busy with real life stuff lately and a collab pic I'm working on with Hat-Kakashi over at tumblr (shameless plug, go check it out~), but I wanted to put something out for valentines day.**

 **See you all next time.**


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